San Jose hospital workers scramble into hazmat suits. Others carry stretchers through disoriented crowds into bright yellow tents, where they prep a decontamination process for people critically injured by a chemical bomb.
That was the scene for three hours Thursday at O’Connor Hospital, where health care workers ran a mass casualty drill in the rain. Amid a backdrop of escalating political violence and national instability, they’re preparing for the unthinkable when Levi’s Stadium takes the global stage in 2026 — becoming the first region to host a Super Bowl and World Cup in the same year.
It was just one in a series of drills preparing county hospital workers for active shooters, terrorist attacks and natural disasters like earthquakes, according to Sheila Tuna, service line director of the disaster preparedness program for Santa Clara Valley Healthcare.
“We know that anything can happen. Today – it’s raining,” Tuna told San José Spotlight. “The scenario we’re practicing today is: There was a bomb that exploded at Levi’s Stadium, a chemical substance was involved and some of our critically injured are covered in it. They’ve started to arrive at our hospital. We have activated our command center, our hazmat branch and we are doing decontamination for our patients before they enter the hospital.”
The training scenario, which featured emergency triage setups, sanitary hosing and mannequins being carried to care areas, is modeled after simulations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Nursing student actors provided an element of chaos, calling out for their loved ones and fighting with medical workers to test trainees’ focus while listening to directions.
@sanjosespotlight San Jose hospital workers scramble into hazmat suits. Others carry stretchers through disoriented crowds into bright yellow tents, where they prep a decontamination process for people critically injured by a chemical bomb. That was the scene for three hours Thursday at O’Connor Hospital, where health care workers ran a mass casualty drill in the rain. Amid a backdrop of escalating political violence and national instability, they’re preparing for the unthinkable when Levi’s Stadium takes the global stage in 2026 — becoming the first region to host a Super Bowl and World Cup in the same year. It was just one in a series of drills preparing county hospital workers for active shooters, terrorist attacks and natural disasters like earthquakes, according to Sheila Tuna, service line director of the disaster preparedness program for Santa Clara Valley Healthcare. Read the full story at SanJoseSpotlight.com. #SanJose #siliconvalley #superbowl #healthcare #emergency
The county has trained more than 450 people — both clinical and non-clinical employees across Santa Clara Valley Healthcare — to be on call as part of the hospital system’s emergency response team.
“They are going through the full entire exercise of getting the call, setting up the area, putting on their suits and decontaminating patients,” Tuna said.
About 50 participants from that team took part in the drill, with supervisors advising on decontamination and patient care practices. Among them was Mariann Vaught, a registered nurse at O’Connor’s Emergency Department who corrected hazmat workers as they took patients into tents and undressed them for decontamination.
“Being an ER nurse, I’m just thrown into situations. You never can expect what’s going to come through those doors. That’s what draws me to this,” Vaught told San José Spotlight. “You can’t plan for everything so the practice — just going through it — is going to make everybody a little bit better if it does happen.”
For Vaught, technique is top of mind for these sessions.
“The most important thing I will say in this training is going to be decontamination, because that’s how we keep ourselves clean so we’re not contaminating the hospital, contaminating ourselves and we’re actually able to take care of our patients,” she said.
It comes as the Santa Clara Police Department — the lead public safety agency for Super Bowl 60 and the FIFA World Cup games — has been running its own drills. Police Lt. Eric Lagergren said his department was not made aware of Thursday’s drill at O’Connor Hospital.
“We have a comprehensive public safety committee responsible for various planning areas, which includes emergency medical services,” Lagergren told San José Spotlight. “We have been involved in a significant number of trainings such as large event planning, crowd control, tactical training, etc.”
National headlines about mounting political unrest are casting an especially long shadow over these training efforts.
“I think about it all the time. I can’t go to a mall without thinking about something like this happening,” Vaught said. “I think we’re in a great spot in our county. We’re always training so that we’re as prepared as we can be.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
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